Hadrian's Wall: Day 6, Robin Hood Inn to Prudhoe

A rather odd thing happened today...our plan was to get dropped off by the owners of last night's b&b at the Robin Hood Inn, then walk along the wall for a little bit then drop down to follow a more interesting alternative route that would take us through Ovingham. A close family friend, Murray Haig, lives in Prudhoe just over the river from Ovingham so we would take a minor detour to stay with him for the night.

The day started with us walking the wrong direction from the Robin Hood Inn in order to get to a farm shop we had passed in the car. It wasn't actually open yet so we went on one of their walks to kill 20 minutes. We then spent a good hour eating ice cream (yes, 10am was a bit early for icecream but it was too good to resist), choosing a gift for Murray and selecting a fabulous cheese scone for our lunch (What is the fastest type of cake? A scone!). After the previous disappointing farm shop, we felt we should make the best of this one at Vallum Farm, which was really rather good...

Eventually we got on our way, walking in the right direction. When the time came for us to leave the wall path and walk down to Ovingham, a strange sense of attachment to the little acorn markers that highlight the trail came over us, so we decided to carry on a little and take another footpath a little later on that would then join to the alternative route. Oddly enough, the same thing happened again when we got there. So we carried on walking, almost all the way along the wall that we were going to avoid with the alternative route. The scenery was actually quite pleasant even though we had been told it would be dull, and we saw lots of little frogs! Then, in order to get to Murrays we walked back along the alternative route, effectively doubling the days distance. Why would anyone do that out of choice?! These paths were much less well maintained but made for a more interesting route. In one place, however, a farmer had nailed barbed wire across a bridge that was part of the right of way (both illegal and infuriating) which gave us no option but to climb over one of his gates at the bottom of the field.

The weather today was hot and quite sunny and I have gorgeous tan lines from my socks haha! Murray spoilt us tonight with a delicious dinner and a glass of wine.

Prayer requests:
Thank God for so much more energy today, and fabulous people like Murray!
That the tarmac tomorrow will not cause too much knee and hip pain

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Hadrian's Wall: Day 5, Grindon to Corbridge

This morning started with a large bowl of cereal, full English and a slice of toast. Consequently we didn't eat much for the rest of the day!

This morning we walked from Grindon to Chesters Roman Fort where we sat on the pavement playing cards for 45 minutes whilst waiting for the Hadrians Wall Bus which took us to Hexham ( as Hexham was almost exactly due south of Chesters and so the bus didn't cover any of the distance along the wall, we didn't feel this was cheating!). In Hexham we stocked up on food in Tesco, had a cuppa and a brownie in a little cafe then walked out to Corbridge where our b&b tonight is. The lovely owner has washed and dried all out walking clothes and underwear for us! She also booked us a table at the black bull. The tiredness hit a new level today at dinner, and my biggest challenge so far was finishing my meal, despite it being delicious!

I won't write a description of my blisters as you really don't want to read one! Miraculously they are not particularly painful whilst walking but they are so sore when I am in bed.

Prayer requests:
More energy tomorrow
Pain free feet whilst walking for the rest of the wall

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Hadrian's Wall: Days 3&4 Walton to Greenhead to Grindon

This is a bumper blog post - 2 days in 1! (I didn't have any signal last night)

Day 3 was the first time we came across any Roman remains as between Bowness and Walton the remains are buried. To celebrate, we decided on some Roman names for each other: Lethus Maximus and Rachus Augustus. We had a couple of small hills and a couple of torrential showers but it was mainly flat and dry. We stopped at Birdowsald fort to get our passports stamped (as proof we are walking the wall!) and watched some young aspiring Roman soldiers get put through their paces. We made a diversion to Slackhouse farm shop and tea room, hoping to have a nice lunch and get some vegetables to spice up our evening stirfry - no such luck! The soup and quiche we had for lunch were ok, and the salad with the quiche was quite impressive, however there was absolutely no sign of vegetables or anything that could be stirfried. So dinner ended up as noodles with sauce - boring but plenty of it.

To keep our mood up despite the disappointing lunch, I taught Liath the meatball song (complete with Italian opera singer style emotion) and another group of walkers told us we sounded like a choir of angels!! Our bunkhouse was a little nicer than at Sandysike, other than the grumpy owner who seemed to be rather inconvenienced by us.

We woke up this morning with mixed feelings, knowing today would be our toughest day. We had been warned yesterday by another walker who said 'good luck' as we passed. We returned the comment but he turned round, looked us straight in the eye and said 'no, seriously, good luck, you need it!' However, someone else had told us it was the most fun part of the walk, so we set off a little unsure how the day would pan out.

We began our day at the Roman Army Museum in Greenhead, which was really interesting. It was well done, and you learn about why the wall was built as well as what life was like along the wall at the forts, milecastles and turrets that are so frequent (two turrets between every milecastle). We also learnt how to write our new Roman names in Roman script! The weather today held out, despite the odd threatening rain drop, but was very windy on top of the crags. I can understand why some people really struggle with this section, especially if they are not prepared for it. Crag after crag, you go up and down so many times it could easily become demoralising. However, the scenery is nothing short of spectacular and the paths were mainly grass, with stone steps on most of the steep ascents. It was more what I expected the Hadrians Wall path to be like, and there was no shortage of Roman wall, milecastle and turret remains to keep the path interesting. We had a brief look round Housesteads fort before continuing over sewingshields crags to our hostel near Grindon where we were greeted with a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit! Plenty of pasta carbonara followed by tea bread and custard means we are going to bed with full stomachs (but slightly sore feet - the crags were particularly good at causing blisters, despite the blister plaster, foam padding and tape I had already covered my feet in!) For me, today has been one of my favourite and we can look forward to the rest of the wall, knowing the physically toughest section is done.

Prayer requests:
(Thank-you to everyone who prayed for our morals...they are still high and we have paid for everything we've had from the honesty boxes! I had meant to type morale, realised as soon as I posted it but I can't edit it on my phone haha!)
Thank God that we got through today and it was enjoyable rather than horrendous
Pray for healing for our blisters (Liath has one on her little toe that is now bigger than the toe :( )
Pray that our friendship stays strong despite the tiredness

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Hadrian's Wall: Day 2, Carlisle to Walton

Today has been thoroughly wet. The waterproofs went on within half an hour of leaving the Travelodge and didn't come off for the rest of the day. This morning was slow, mainly due to the fact we got distracted by a very fruitful hedgerow full of blackberries. Having harvested a decent number, we then said 'How amazing would it be if we found some apples too, and then we could have Apple and blackberry crumble for pudding tonight' (one of my all time favourite desserts!). Low and behold, we looked across the road from the blackberry hedge and there was an apple tree!
With our pickings safely packed, we trudged on through the rain, waved at drivers on the M6 from a bridge - even at the age of 18 it's still exciting when someone waves back!! A intervals along the wall are honesty boxes that the locals fill with refreshments for walkers to purchase. At about 12 today we came across something better - an honesty shed! It gave us the chance to shelter from the rain, buy a cup of tea and make have an early lunch.
Progress this afternoon was much quicker, partly due to lengthy singing sessions (I now know the song about a crazy moose called Fred who drinks juice and eventually ends up dead...) and we arrived at our bunkhouse by 3.30. It's basic but dry and warm. I taught Liath two card games (gin rummy and chase the ace) before a dinner of chicken casserole, which could be described as average at best, and our hand picked blackberry and apple crumble, which was topped with flapjack and it was truly delicious! (Unfortunately my phone will not let me upload photos onto my blog otherwise I'd show you the culinary masterpiece!)

Tomorrow I think we meet the first of the hills, the last two days have been pretty flat. Blisters are starting to form, but hopefully they won't develop too much. After a good night's sleep tonight we will be ready to face them!

Prayer requests:
Thank God that today was less painful and a lot easier than yesterday, despite the weather
Pray that our morale will stay high
And injuries and blisters will be kept at bay

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Hadrian's Wall: Day 1, Bowness to Carlisle

Well that's the first day done! It's been a pretty good day - the weather was fab and we walked through some very beautiful places. We enjoyed a St. Clement's (Orange juice and bitter lemon) at the Greyhound Inn in Burgh-by-Sands just before our lunch stop and met another walker doing the route in the opposite direction, and got some advice for further sections. One section of the trail was closed due to a landslip which meant a slightly longer route, but it was still pleasant. The harder parts of the day were the long tarmac section this morning between Drumburgh and Burgh and a field with cows, bullocks and a rather large bull. The travelodge where we are staying was a lot further off the trail than we had thought, but I've never been so happy to see one in my life! My feet are very achey but no blisters yet. Looking forwards to a (cheap!) pub dinner and then a comfy bed.

Prayer requests:
Good weather again tomorrow
A good night's sleep tonight
Safety as we walk

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Hadrian's Wall: Day 0

Tomorrow is the day I start my sponsored walk of Hadrian's Wall. I will be trekking with Liath, a good friend from college. My personal taxi driver (aka Dad) will drive us up early tomorrow morning so we can fit a full day's walking in!

Some quick facts about Hadrain's Wall:

• It was built by the Romans between AD 122 and 128
• It roughly marked the edge of the Roman Empire and acted as a frontier control
• The national trail opened in 2003, and is 135 km (84 miles) long
• It will take us 7 and a half days to walk

As we have decided to walk from west to east, we start at Bowness-on-Solway and finish at Wallsend, near Newcastle. We are staying in a variety of places along the way, including bunkhouses, youth hostels, a B&B and city centre Travelodges (when we are in Carlisle and Newcastle). Cooking arrangements will vary depending on if we have self catering facilities, or if we will be forced to sample the local cuisine. Liath is also carrying half her body weight in flapjack so we shouldn't have an issue with lack of sustenance!!

My fundraising target for this walk was £2000. As of today, I have reached 89% of that. I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, I've been blown away by your generosity. (If you've not yet sponsored me and would like to help me reach 100% before I finish the walk, you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/rachelhannahpreston).

Phone signal and internet connection will be variable, but I will try to blog when I can so you can keep up to date with my progress (and the number of blisters I have...!).

All packed and ready to go!

Prayer requests:

• That we will be safe as we walk
• The blisters won't get too bad
• We are still good friends by the end of it and haven't murdered each other along the way!

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Filling the Gap

On Saturday 21st September, I will be hosting a 3 course dinner to help me raise funds for my gap year. My passion for cooking has grown a lot over the past 2 or 3 years so I am really excited about this opportunity to cook for so many friends and to have a go at large scale catering. The menu (see below) is the product of almost a year's thinking, planning, experimenting and testing. I have combined recipes, altered recipes and made up recipes. As far as possible, everything will be home made my myself or one of my fabulous kitchen helpers!

The Practical Details:
Date: Saturday 21st September 2013
Time: Arrive at 6.30pm, first course served at 7pm
Tickets: £10 per person (£5 of which covers food costs, the other £5 goes towards my gap year projects). Tables are for 6 people. If you'd like to book a table, please get in touch. If you don't want a whole table, get in touch anyway and I'll see if I can match you up with someone else!
Bring: Your own drinks and glasses, and an appetite!

The Menu (with my commentary in blue!):

Starter

Smoked Salmon & Chive Pâté – served with hand made oatcakes and salad leaves from my kitchen garden. This pâté is light but full of flavour. I have been making these oatcakes every Christmas for at least 6 years and they are always very popular in my house!

Basil & Goats Cheese Pinwheel – a delicate spiral of soufflé sponge filled with ricotta, goats cheese, sundried tomatoes and a generous sprinkling of home grown basil. Served hot with salad leaves. (V) An interesting but really delicious, summery option. The combination of goats cheese, tomatoes and basil give it a bold Mediterranean flavour. Don't let the fact it's vegetarian put you off if you're a meat lover!

Creamy Tomato Soup – home made soup served with a freshly baked crusty roll. (V) A safe option if you're not feeling adventurous, but tasty nonetheless! It's a warming soup with the deep flavour of tomatoes, with a lovely silky finish from the cream.

Main Course – all served with seasonal vegetables

Pesto Stuffed Chicken – chicken breast stuffed with freshly made pesto and mascarpone, wrapped in pancetta and served on a bed of mashed potato with a pesto cream sauce. This dish has been good fun to develop. Fresh pesto is the key to mouthwatering flavour of this dish. The basil for my pesto is currently growing in my greenhouse (there is an absolute forest of it, my pesto doesn't go easy on the basil!) and my recipe has changed slightly again, after my summer cooking course in Italy with Chef Claudio Piantini, where I learnt a couple of secret ingredients to improve the pesto even further. 

Lamb Curry – slow cooked lamb in a sauce of tomatoes, onions and red peppers, spiced with cumin, coriander, turmeric and a mild touch of chilli. Served with rice, home made naan bread and mango chutney. A rich, tomato based, Indian curry. Because it is cooked slowly, the lamb is very tender and the spices are aromatic. The heat is fairly mild (similar to that of a rogan josh). No curry would be complete without mango chutney or naan bread - my naans are filled with garlic and coriander and add something really special to the plate.

Vegetable and Bean Tortilla Cups– a crispy tortilla basket filled with a ragu of carrot, courgette, peppers and onions with mixed beans. Topped with sour cream and grated west country cheddar. (V) This vegetable ragu is packed with ribbons of carrot and courgette, with peppers, onions and smoked paprika (quite different to hot paprika, and one of my favourite spices!) adding a slightly Spanish twist. It is similar to a ratatouille, but the addition of pinto, haricot, red kidney and black turtle beans makes this a heartier, more interesting dish. The toasted tortilla basket adds yet another dimension to the textures in this dish. This is a Hairy Bikers inspired recipe! 

Dessert

Lemon and Almond Meringue Roulade – my almond meringue filled with  lemon curd and fresh whipped cream, served with a strawberry coulis. This became a firm family favourite from the first time I tried this recipe! It is a light dessert, with a tangy lemon curd which is balanced by the ground almonds in the meringue (which also help give it the right combination of crispy and chewy). If you're a pavlova fan, you'll love this!

Warm Chocolate Brownie –  made to my secret recipe, served with a hot, fudgy chocolate sauce and home made vanilla pod ice cream. My brownies are renowned amongst my friends, and it's all down to my secret recipe! And whilst cold brownies are good, nothing beats a warm brownie, especially when it's served with a gooey, fudgey sauce and home made ice cream with vanilla pod seeds. My brother is the ice cream making specialist in my household, so I will be enlisting his skills to get it just right. It's a rich dessert, but truly delicious - one for the chocoholic in you!

Lime Posset – a zingy, lime flavoured set cream, topped with fresh raspberries and shortbread hearts. Probably my favourite of the three desserts, although it's hard to pick, they're all so delicious! The lime flavour in the cream is very zingy and pairs perfectly with the fresh raspberries on top. Whilst this citrus flavour adds a certain lightness, the set cream is quite rich. The shortbread hearts are crumbly and buttery but provide a contrasting texture to the silky smooth cream.

Tea or Coffee and Homemade Cantuccini (Italian biscuits) will be served after dinner

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